Policy Research Note Release
Arming an Israeli Attack on Iran:
On April 28, 2005 the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the sale of 100 GBU-28 “bunker buster” guided bombs to Israel. Designed to penetrate hardened command centers located deep underground, the GBU-28 is a 5,000-pound laser-guided bomb that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead and contains 630 pounds of high explosives.
The Israeli target for the GBU is no secret. For months Israeli intelligence, political and policy operatives in the US have been presenting a case that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons that threaten Tel Aviv and other Israeli population centers.
American skeptics will recall similar statements by Ariel Sharon who made claims along with a network of American pundits that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been shipped into Syria at the start of the US invasion of Iraq. Although the 1,700-member Iraq Survey Team responsible for hunting WMD in Iraq officially announced on April 23, 2005 it found no evidence of any weapons of mass destruction or transfer to Syria, proponents of conflict with Syria and Iran continue to push their case forward. Like misleading intelligence claims about Iraq, a GBU-28 sale could trigger an immediate, needless and bloody conflict, only this time between the US and Iran (see Exhibit 1).
Full Policy Research Note HTML PDF